After Grinding Roughing Gouge ....

Lots of people think that honing is a waste of time and effort. Might be worthwhile on a skew, and woodcarving tools. I use mine right from the wheel.

Maybe it is a spindle gouge. The flute is much deeper on a bowl gouge than a spindle gouge. Some manufacturers take a fair amount of liberty with the names.

"buck" wrote: (clip)Also the one inch "roughing gouge as it was called" is not straight across the top when looking straight down of it, as I have seen other ones but sweeps back on the sides more like a spindle gouge.... is this normal? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I am used to seeing roughing gouges ground square (not swept back.) One advantage of a square grind is that you can bring a fresh sharp edge to the wood by just revolving the tool about the long axis, without any other change. Since a roughing gouge has a very long cutting edge compared to other tools, it allows you to cut for a long time without resharpening.

Tools cut well directly from the grinder, but you can get a slightly sharper edge with a few strokes of a stone. You can restore the edge by re-honing several times, before it is necessary to go back to the grinder. Honing removes very little metal, so your tools will last a lot longer if you don't grind every time.

If it cuts cleanly with little pressure, it's just fine. Facets rarely represent significant deviation on the edge, so I wouldn't worry myself about them. Mostly they're change in scratch direction, and only optically significant. Occasionally you might have a high spot, but until there's more than one point of tangency possible on unequal radii circles, no sweat. If you've got really wet stringy wood, you might find a slip to knock off the wire edge handy, and a quick touch with a stone to freshen the edge is sometimes all you need to get the "bite" back.

As to your roughing gouge. I use the Sorby 35 mm Continental pattern all the time on convex cuts, and when there's room to maneuver it, inside as well. Looks like a shallow roughing gouge with a fingernail grind. Takes some serious shavings with little effort when cutting with some shear. Your straight-across rougher can be used on convex cuts as well, and to make the final passes inside, after you have room, though a forged fingernail is safer and as effective.

I consider gouges ready to use from grinder but I will hone a skew after grinding. I attended a Michael Hosaluk seminar and he grinds (freehand) the tool and then hones it several times as it becomes dull; he then returns to the grinder and starts the process again. I noticed that this worked quite well when doing spindle type work but he was grinding more frequently when doing a bowl. May have been the wood type??? . I tend to do that now. Billh